Blog

British MP Appeals for Cannabis Reform – 2017

British Cannabis Reform?

British Member of Parliament for, Newport West, Paul Philip Flynn of the Labour party, made a recent impassioned speech within the Houses of Parliament advocating for British Cannabis Reform.

Mr. Flynn is a seasoned politician having represented his constituency since 1987 and during his speech, he made note of a story which shone a light on the absurdity which is the public and legal perception of Cannabis in the UK.

During his speech to the house, he mentions Elizabeth Brice, who campaigned under the name Claire Hodges and who suffered severely from multiple sclerosis; whom he describes as a “wonderful & vibrant woman”.

﻿

On one occasion when Elizabeth was at the House of Parliament, Mr. Flynn was party to a “terrible crime” when he gave her a cup of hot water, which she then proceeded to put cannabis tea into. According to the rules of the house, she was liable to go to prison for 7 years for that infraction.

His speech clearly highlighted the absurdity of the stance in the UK and even made reference to a time when Elizabeth Bryce addressed the parliament in Belgium and within months they had changed their policy on Cannabis. Most of the countries in the world use this most ancient of medicines which have been around for over 5,000 years.

His parting shot was to encourage seriously ill members of the public, in a show of civil disobedience, to come to parliament and use cannabis and “see what happens”. He mentions the “barbaric stupidity and cruelty of government policy that denies seriously ill people their medicine of choice…”.

It is great to see high profile members of society pushing for reform, and we encourage everybody who is “woke” to do their bit to further the cannabis discussion and debate.